Fiscal Exchange and Tax Compliance: Evidence From a Field Experiment

Behavioral interventions appealing to taxpayers’ reciprocity often leave tax compliance unaffected. We provide evidence that a “fiscal exchange nudge” increased tax compliance in a setting where one might not expect it: crisis-ridden Argentina. In a randomized controlled trial with over 20,000 taxpayers, a tax bill visually celebrating realized public works benefiting children increased payment rates of tax delinquents by about 20 percent, or almost 40 percent when the bills were delivered in person. Without the appeal, the new bill design generated significantly fewer payments. Changes in the design of the tax bill also increased arrears cancellation. We estimate the ratio of marginal revenues to costs for the fiscal exchange bill to be 18. The factors we associate with the unexpectedly positive impacts are consistent with strengthening an affective response. We find persistent effects of the experiment two years later. The results suggest that communities have more scope to increase tax revenues through non-threatening interventions.     

What drives compliance with COVID-19 measures over time? Explaining changing impacts with Goal Framing Theory

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to study which factors drive compliance and how the evolving context in society –virus fluctuations and changing government measures – changes the impact of these factors. Extant literature lists many factors that drive compliance – notably enforcement, trust, legitimacy. Most of these studies, however, do not look across time: whether a changing context for citizens changes the impact of factors driving compliance. In this study, we use Lindenberg's Goal Framing Theory to explain the dynamics of these drivers of compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We formulate hypotheses for pro-socialness, trust in government, observed respect for rules, rule effectiveness, rule appropriateness, fear of COVID-19 (severity and proximity), opportunities for pleasure and happiness, as well as worsened income position. We test our hypotheses with data collected at three different moments during the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in Flanders, Belgium. Findings show that over time the constellations of factors that drive compliance change and, later in the pandemic, more distinct groups of citizens with different motivations to comply are identified. The overall conclusion is that the voluntary basis for compliance becomes more fragile over time, with a more differentiated pattern of drivers of compliance emerging. Public policy and communication need to adapt to these changes over time and address different groups of citizens.     

Effect of Major Depression on the Self-Image of Adolescent Boys and Girls

We investigated the specific impact of major depressive disorder (MDD) on the self-image of adolescent boys and girls seeking outpatient treatment. We used the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) to compare 68 adolescents with MDD and 39 adolescents with no diagnosis of psychiatric illness according to the Structural Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID). Self-image among MDD patients was in general poorer than in the comparison group and was particularly expressed as dissatisfaction with life and an impaired mastery of the environment. Logistic regression analysis showed S2 (Emotional Tone) to be an independent factor associated with MDD (OR 1.15). In girls S2 was also independently associated with MDD (OR 1.14). The effect of MDD on self-image was more negative in girls than in boys and the self-image pattern differed between the sexes.     

Injury‐Related Healthcare Use and Risk of Filicide Victimization: A Population‐Based Case–Control Study

Research on child‐related risk factors for filicide is scant. We investigated whether prior healthcare use for injury (including poisoning) influences filicide risk. Victims (0–14 years; n = 71) were identified in a national autopsy database for the years 1994–2012 and compared to matched, general population controls (n = 355). Healthcare use data were retrieved from a national patient registry. Risks were estimated using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). For females, prior inpatient care for injury conferred a statistically significant sevenfold risk (OR = 6.67 [95% CI: 1.49–29.79]), and any prior injury‐related healthcare use conferred a statistically significant fourfold risk (OR = 3.57 [95% CI: 1.13–11.25]), of filicide victimization. No statistically significant risks were found for males. Healthcare personnel should be aware that children treated for injuries, especially females, may be at an elevated risk of filicide victimization. Nevertheless, the filicide base rate remains low, and parents may be stigmatized by unfounded alerts; thus, prudent reflection should precede reports to the authorities.     

Only a Matter of Time? The Role of Criminal Competence in Avoiding Arrest

While prior research has shown that the probability of detection plays a role in the decision-making of many offenders, much less is known on offenders’ relative success in avoiding arrest. In this study, we draw from detailed criminal career data on 172 offenders involved in lucrative criminal activities to examine the role of criminal competence in the probability of being arrested in a given month. We examine a particular aspect of competence, criminal efficiency, which is defined as the ability to earn a relatively large amount of money for each crime committed. Our research design allows us to disentangle the effect of criminal efficiency as a static trait of offenders from the dynamic variations in efficiency that offenders experience over time. Results show that efficiency is a strong, negative predictor of arrest, both at the static and dynamic levels.     

The factors associated with criminal recidivism in Finnish male offenders: importance of neurocognitive deficits and substance dependence

Neurocognitive deficits and psychiatric disorders are often brought up as risk factors of recidivism. In this study, we investigated how neurocognitive and academic deficits and psychiatric disorders (including substance dependence) are associated with criminal recidivism and prison career among male offenders. In a health survey of Finnish prisoners, 72 sentenced male prisoners were examined in Turku prison using a neurocognitive test battery and psychiatric assessment including a standardized psychiatric interview (SCID-I, II). The neurocognitive and academic tests were chosen to assess domains of cognitive functioning and reading, spelling and mathematical skills. Our results showed that the combination of neurocognitive deficits and substance dependence was connected to recidivism. Axis I diagnosis (major mental disorders) and substance dependence were connected with neurocognitive and academic deficits. Moreover, first-time offenders had fewer neurocognitive deficits and Axis I disorders, less substance dependence and fewer personality disorders than those with several convictions. Rehabilitation of cognitive functions and academic skills, along with intervention for mental health problems and substance dependence could help to prevent the unfavourable circle of criminal career.     

Access to party positions and preference formation: a field experiment

Abstract: Surveys are sometimes used to assess preferences towards policy issues that are remote from experience and that have never been publicly discussed. How do these preferences of isolated survey respondents compare with preferences expressed by voters who have access to advice from competing political parties? I address this question by conducting a field experiment with a sample of the general public in which I experimentally control the subjects’ access to the actual positions of competing parties and interest groups on specific novel policy propositions. Access to party positions decreased approval of the proposed environmental policy among right‐wing voters by over fifty percent, and this effect was similar for different educational groups. When voters had access to party positions, their policy preferences were more consistent with their general political orientation. I conclude by discussing implications of these results for the debate about voter competence and for preference elicitation using surveys.     

Suicide in children, youths and young adults

Suicides among children and youths are tragic events. The suicide cases of children, youths and young adults examined between 1995 and 2009 at the Institute of Legal Medicine of the Hanover Medical School were retrospectively analyzed. Altogether, 54 suicides among children, youths and young adults (37 males, 17 females; median age 17.5 years) were evaluated. The suicide victims were predominantly male (68.5%). The vast majority used "hard" methods such as hanging, jumping from a height or being run over by a train. In seven cases (13.0%) psychiatric disorders were known. Seven victims (13.0%) left a suicide note. Suicide was most frequently (40.7%) committed in the open air (40.7%). In addition, the evaluation shows that at the time of committing suicide more than 40% of the youths and adolescents, in whom a chemical toxicological examination was performed, were under the influence of alcohol, medical and/or illegal drugs.     

Psychopathic traits in Finnish homicide offenders with schizophrenia

There is a paucity of studies examining psychopathy in comparable samples of violent individuals with and without psychotic illness. The main goal of the study was to assess the prevalence and nature of psychopathic traits as measured by PCL-R among Finnish homicide offenders with schizophrenia. Further, the impact of co-morbid psychopathy on the homicidal incidents, as well as the associations of psychopathy and offender background factors, among offenders with schizophrenia was investigated.A retrospective study was performed using extensive forensic psychiatric evaluation reports and crime reports as sources of information. The sample consisted of 72 homicide offenders with schizophrenia and 72 controls without psychotic illness.Psychopathic features were prevalent among Finnish homicide offenders with schizophrenia, although for the most parts to a lesser extent compared to other homicide offenders. Like non-mentally ill psychopathic offenders, offenders with schizophrenia and many psychopathic traits are likely to present early starting problems in many areas of life and they also commit homicides that resemble other psychopathic offenders' in their choice of victims, intoxication and post-offense behavior.The observed prevalence of psychopathic traits highlights the importance of psychopathy assessment among violence-prone individuals with schizophrenia. In most respects, offenders with schizophrenia and high levels of psychopathic traits seem to be similar to psychopathic offenders without psychotic illness, which has implications for early intervention and management.